Learning for Uncertainty: Teaching Students How to Thrive in a Rapidly Evolving World

Learning for Uncertainty explores technology’s role in education, specifically unpacking the question: How should educators prepare today’s children for a world that has yet to be made?

As technology evolves faster than our capacity to fully understand the social, cultural, economic, and moral implications of many innovations, today’s educators are tasked with the unique role of preparing students to capitalize on technology’s opportunities and also mitigate its dangers to their society, to democratic processes, and to institutions. Veteran educators McDiarmid and Zhao explore the implications of emerging technologies for future jobs, organizations, students, and learning, covering topics such as

• The future of work and workers as technology eliminates some industries while creating new ones.

• Potential futures, both bright and dark, awaiting students.

• The qualities, dispositions, social behaviors, and skills that are likely to advantage students in the future.

• The possibility of technology to revolutionize education in ways that will better position students for an uncertain future.

• How technology can free teachers from time and effort devoted to routine matters to instead assuming roles that are potentially more satisfying and supportive of their students’ learning.

• Learning opportunities and educator roles that have the potential to bring about needed changes.

• Capitalizing on these uncertain times to rethink curriculum, pedagogy, opportunities to learn, and the organization of school as well as the roles of students, educators, parents, and policymakers.

This latest book in the Routledge Leading Change series is ideal reading for educators and policymakers in both P–12 and higher education interested in ensuring our education systems provide the experiences and learning opportunities necessary to cultivate the innovative, iconoclastic, and generative thinkers and creators needed for a future that nourishes the minds, bodies, and spirits of all.

G. Williamson McDiarmid is the former Dean and Alumni Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and Distinguished Chair of Education at East China Normal University, Shanghai, China.

Yong Zhao is Foundation Distinguished Professor of Education at the University of Kansas, Kansas, and Professor of Educational Leadership at the Melbourne Graduate School of Education, Australia.